Insurance professionals have their hands full these days. Running the agency, taking on marketing, supporting clients, securing new business, thriving in the hard market, adapting to industry trends–these things keep you on your toes.
If you’re wondering if you really need to be a blog writer on top of everything else, who could blame you?
The truth is that a blog is not essential. There are plenty of successful agencies that do not have one. But that doesn’t mean you should dismiss the notion completely. In fact, there are many excellent reasons to have a blog, and you may find that, done right, the juice is usually worth the squeeze.
Here are the top five reasons insurance agencies should want to blog.
- Blogs display your expertise.
Your expertise is one of your greatest assets, but it’s only useful if you have an audience to share it with. One-to-one communication requires another party to be ready, willing, and able to receive your messaging. Blogging, on the other hand, allows you to put your message out into the world for anyone looking for that information. People can find it when they are most ready for it–when they’re online searching for answers.
- Blogs bring people to your website.
Increased website traffic has many benefits to your agency, but many struggle with how to get people’s attention. Blogs can help in multiple ways. First, creating blogs with the right SEO keywords helps make your site more discoverable on search engines. Additionally, adding quality content to your blog can boost your ranking, bringing you to closer to the top of search results. Visitors staying on your site longer to read your post also assists SEO, as does someone sticking around to read more than just the one blog.
- Blogs enhance your content marketing strategy.
Blogs may feel like a one-off task, but they can actually be the cornerstone of your marketing plan–if you make them count. Think of the various ways you could create social media posts from a post. A list-style post (like this one) can easily lead to at least one post per item. You can also record a video on the topic and use that to garner attention. Blog posts can be added to a monthly newsletter, shared via email with clients and prospects, or serve as an educational piece your team returns to time and again when interacting with clients. Turn them into infographics for yet another opportunity to reuse the concepts you present.
- Blogs offer value.
Insurance buyers have plenty of options when it comes to finding an insurance agency to work with, which means you must offer something your competitors cannot. This is another way your expertise comes into play. By offering information your clients and prospects need, you provide value to them beyond the policy. They’ll come to see you as an important source for information. Whether your sharing industry news, tips for lowering their insurance risk, or educating them about various insurance topics, blogging offers the opportunity to build the relationship, trust, and loyalty that leads to retention.
- Blogs open a window to your agency.
Speaking of relationships, this is an area where independent insurance agents can soar above the direct writers. Your clients aren’t just a policy number–they are the members of your community. By highlighting the personal side of your agency, people can get to know you and your team. Blogs are an excellent way to share involvement with a local organization, volunteering events, employee spotlights, new hires and promotions, and so much more. When clients know your team by face and by name, the bond can go much deeper than a premium payment.
You can get away with not having a blog.
But given all these excellent reasons to have one, why would you want to pass on it?
Blogging can be just about anything you want it to be, which makes it an amazing opportunity for just about any agency. Even adding one blog post per month can generate a wealth of marketing tactics that can bring in new leads, convert prospects, solidify relationships, and bolster retention.
The Forge website platform comes with blogging capabilities built right in, and our team is always on hand to help you get your thoughts on the page. There has never been a better time to start blogging on your insurance agency website!
Schedule a meeting today to learn more about how we can support your agency’s goals.
